At the venue, even after TES had been winning for a good while, the screams still rose and fell without stopping.
TES didn't just win the match—they also avenged the humiliation their massive fanbase had suffered from being played like fools. That was a heavy stroke in history.
So today was a day worth remembering.
No matter when, everyone could shout one line: so satisfying.
But for TES themselves, the feeling of winning wasn't as euphoric as you might imagine.
First of all, they entered playoffs on a ten-win streak. Sure, they started with six straight losses, but they adjusted back. With their current form, the goal was the championship.
So easily taking down BLG in Round 2 was only natural. If they'd lost, that would've been the real problem.
Forget getting flamed into retirement—angry fans would make you "remember your ancestors for three generations."
That wasn't exaggeration. It wasn't fiction either.
So even though there were tons of supporters now, if you really lost a match, those same people would absolutely go to work on the official Weibo after the game.
That's why even after winning, TES just gave a simple round of hugs.
Then they walked over to BLG's player seats, and you could feel the disappointment immediately.
In the room, they could say "it's normal to lose," but as pros, they still had the most basic competitive desire.
Still, in esports, getting eliminated in playoffs is normal.
If the team that lost had been TES, then they'd be the ones sitting there, waiting for the opponents to come shake hands.
So you can pity every loser—but you don't need to feel it as if it happened to you.
Just like ShowMaker said: I have to consider whether this is my one and only chance in this lifetime.
Give every match your all, and you won't regret it.
After all, failure runs through an entire life. Not every effort ends in success.
Crisp adjusted quickly. He even hugged Lin Fan and JackeyLove afterward.
"Feels like if Monkey runs into you, he's gonna get a psychological shadow." Crisp, after resetting his mood, even sounded a little maliciously amused.
Lin Fan instantly understood what he meant.
TES's opponent in Round 3 would be LNG.
If they won and advanced again, they'd get a Guardian Angel. Even if they lost, they'd still have a chance to revive and keep playing.
So before they beat Li Ning, TES was still under heavy pressure.
"Doinb is pretty strong. I feel like I can't beat him."
FoFo rolled his eyes at that.
After three games, mid lane had been beaten into a delirium.
What mid laner could do that to someone?
Only you and Tian.
Your mid-jungle is bound together from start to finish—this is insane.
If your mid-jungle synergy is even slightly worse, you simply can't play against TES.
One moment of inattention and it becomes a 2v1.
You're "not playing fair" to the fullest…
Doinb and Tarzan are a decent combo, but their synergy still can't match you two.
At this rate, LNG probably won't look much better either.
At best, they take one game. More likely they get sent home 3–1.
After a bit of small talk with the losers, TES walked to center stage and bowed to the crowd.
Leaving after a win has always been the main theme of competitive matches.
No one remembers second place—unless it's Ryu, spending every second waiting for the game to cool down.
After all, in the Zed mirror, full-HP Zed getting solo-killed by a low-HP Zed—there's only one such case.
No denying Faker was at his peak and terrifyingly strong, but Ryu really did misplay.
Last time, Lin Fan had already taken an interview.
This time, the officials—thinking of "spreading the rain evenly"—invited TES's bot duo up instead.
"Hello viewers, I'm host Yu Shuang. Today we've invited TES's bot duo, JackeyLove and Mark. Please greet the audience."
The broadcast switched the camera from Yu Shuang to JackeyLove and Mark.
Both hurriedly greeted everyone.
"Hello everyone, I'm TES's ADC, JackeyLove."
"I'm TES's support, Mark."
This was the first time the two of them had done an interview together. Under the camera, facing Auntie Yu Shuang's "assault," they looked a little awkward.
No choice—Auntie's aggressiveness was too strong. Even JackeyLove, who'd seen it all, was struggling a bit.
"Today you played Zeri and got a pentakill, and you advanced to the next round. How do you feel right now?"
"Uh… mainly because mid lane, Brother Infinite Borders, was way too insane. I honestly feel like I didn't do anything, and somehow their bot lane just got pushed down."
"So these three games, I was basically waiting. Because I knew Brother Infinite Borders could open the map from mid. Once the timing was right, he'd naturally come down and bring tempo."
"A mid like that is really comfortable to play with. The most comfortable part is when he picks tempo champs like Twisted Fate—at most eight minutes and he'll show up bot. In lane, we don't need to worry about anything else."
JackeyLove's words made the livestream chat scroll like crazy.
Mark was asked whether he felt pressure playing with JackeyLove.
"Definitely pressure… JackeyLove is very flexible and very aggressive. Sometimes I can't keep up. But bot lane is about syncing up.
The good part is: in teamfights, Brother Infinite Borders can keep up. The two of them can just use damage to blow the enemy apart…"
Yu Shuang laughed. "Is this an alternative kind of duo?"
"Maybe. After all, those two used to be a bot lane duo before. Their chemistry is perfect, so in teamfights they don't even need to talk—they just charge forward together."
"In Round 3 you'll face Li Ning. Any thoughts about their bot lane?"
"Mm, they're really strong. But even if we can't win lane, it's fine. Brother Infinite Borders mid will definitely beat Doinb-ge. With mid help, even if we're behind, I believe we can still turn it around."
Backstage, Lin Fan flicked both of their foreheads as soon as they returned.
"Doinb is that strong and you want me to beat him? I suggest you two blow up Light in bot lane, then come up and free mid."
"I think Brother Infinite Borders can do it. Our bot lane might be under pressure though.
In the regular season, wasn't it because of your picks that we won pretty easily against Li Ning?
If you really leave it to us, it'll probably turn into a bladder match. And then doesn't that affect you going home to play Infinite Borders?"
JackeyLove's logic was airtight, and people couldn't help but agree.
True—if bot lane is the one making tempo, it drags into 20–30 minutes. That's a bladder match. Without 40–50 minutes, you don't even get a result.
Three games finished in under two hours.
When TES packed up and returned to the club, it wasn't even eight o'clock yet.
Someone suggested they go eat hotpot to celebrate.
After all, they'd been eating cafeteria food every day lately, and everyone was craving something better.
Luo Sheng thought for a moment, then agreed.
They'd been tense for so long—having a good meal was deserved.
Of course, hotpot was fine.
Alcohol was still off-limits.
Meanwhile, in the manager's office, Guo Hao had just hung up a call with the head office.
In the transfer window, he had two tasks.
The first was selling Knight—while he could still fetch a good price. After all, his contract was about to expire. And at this point, mid lane would obviously be Brother Infinite Borders.
If they didn't sell Knight and just kept him on the bench, it would be pure money burn.
The second was to renew Lin Fan's contract at a higher level.
That small raise from before was nowhere near enough.
With his current performance, he was already a top-tier mid in the league.
That tiny buyout clause wouldn't be enough.
If another club "didn't play fair" and poached him in private, then they could just pay a cheap buyout—and TES would lose massively.
So Guo Hao planned to talk to Lin Fan after the team came back from dinner.
The head office was willing to spend.
Since he was worth it, they directly offered a contract with a 5,000,000 annual salary.
For Lin Fan—who still hadn't won results yet—this was already quite a good deal.
The buyout clause was raised to 30,000,000 as well.
A five-million salary matching a thirty-million buyout was fairly reasonable.
After the team finished dinner and returned to the base, Guo Hao laid the contract down immediately.
This was the best deal he could fight for.
After hearing him out, Lin Fan agreed.
To be honest, going from an annual salary of 180,000 to 5,000,000 was more than enough to show the club's sincerity.
And the term was only one year—this was the best kind of contract for a pro.
After one year, you can look at the club's state and decide whether to renew.
If you have championship potential, one-year deals are preferable.
Unless you're the type who just wants a big contract and then slacks—signing three or five years, not caring what happens to the club, binding yourself until you die.
If you're lucky, maybe you go to Worlds.
If you're unlucky, you don't even sniff playoffs.
Examples like that exist… and there have been quite a lot lately.
Seeing Lin Fan sign, Guo Hao's smile grew even wider.
He even stood up to pat his shoulder and poured him a cup of water.
"Keep working hard in the next matches. We believe in you. As long as you bring matching value, your salary will keep rising. Five million a year isn't the cap."
"I can give you a hint—if you play well, doubling or tripling it won't be a problem."
Lin Fan nodded.
Empty promises really were something management had down to a science.
Five million salary, and he could talk it up to over ten million.
But staying with this club was still beneficial.
First, the coach was already used to him not training. He wouldn't come looking for trouble.
Second, his synergy with JackeyLove and the others was good. There was no need to switch teams yet.
At least not this year.
Lin Fan walked out of the manager's office. Luo Sheng got the news and hurried over.
"How'd it go?"
"Renewed for another year." Guo Hao gave a thumbs up.
"Nice!" Thinking that his championship lineup could keep going, Luo Sheng was thrilled.
These days he'd been terrified the renewal wouldn't happen and another club would poach Lin Fan in the next transfer window.
He'd already tasted the joy of having Lin Fan.
As for Knight? Not familiar.
Hearing the good news, Luo Sheng let out a long breath.
Jenny, nice!
Lin Fan returned to the training room.
Today, there was a new game to try!
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup